Professional Experience

Coleman’s practice is focused in the areas of bankruptcy, secured transactions, creditor’s rights and remedies and other areas of commercial litigation. His bankruptcy practice includes the representation of creditors and trustees in all types of bankruptcy proceedings and debtors in business cases.

Coleman’s more recent experience includes:

• Lead bankruptcy counsel for a successful buyer of 22 sawmills out of a Delaware chapter 11 proceeding over the initial objections of the debtor and creditor’s committee;
• Bankruptcy counsel for approved stalking horse bidder in chapter 11 bankruptcy of low-income housing complex;
• Bankruptcy counsel for approved stalking horse bidder in chapter 11 bankruptcy of national vegetable and canned food company and related section 363 sale process;
• Local bankruptcy counsel for approved stalking horse bidder in chapter 11 bankruptcy of bank holdings company and related section 363 sale of stock in a subsidiary bank;
• Lead debtor’s counsel in chapter 11 proceeding of a bakery with manufacturing facilities in four states, resulting in section 363 asset sale;
• Lead debtor’s counsel in chapter 11 proceeding of building supply company with seven Arkansas retail and wholesale locations, resulting in a section 363 asset sale and the payment of secured debt in full;
• Lead counsel in defense of multiple bankruptcy preference actions and claims arising out of the liquidation of a large grocery supply company;
• Co-counsel for a bank in dispute between banks relating to obligations under participation and inter-creditor agreement;
• Counsel for a bank in successfully prosecuting a claim against the insurance company which had refused to pay on a $2 million life policy pledge as collateral;
• Foreclosure of a mortgage on a local golf course complex and simultaneous successful action to avoid fraudulent conveyances made by the mortgagor; and
• Counsel for two automobile finance companies in separate actions to foreclose on automobile dealerships defaulting on floor plan financing agreements. One of the actions also involved the successful defense of lender liability claims and obtaining a non-dischargeable judgment against the dealer in bankruptcy.

Recognition

Coleman was elected to the American College of Bankruptcy Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 term, and he is also a Fellow of the College.

He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Arkansas Bar Foundation. Coleman is a member of the American Bar Association (Business Law Section), Arkansas Bar Association, Pulaski County Bar Association (President, 2004-2005), Debtor-Creditor Bar Association of Central Arkansas (President, 2004), American Bankruptcy Institute and the Judge William R. Overton Inn of the American Inns of Court. He served on the Advisory Committee for the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Arkansas from 2003 to 2007.

He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America^© since 1995 in the categories of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation and Litigation – Bankruptcy; Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in 2009-2021; and Mid-South Super Lawyers for business litigation and bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights from 2006 to 2021. Coleman regularly serves as a seminar speaker on various aspects of bankruptcy practice within the state and regionally. He co-authored Coleman and Henry, “Bankruptcy 101 – Starting Over,” The Arkansas Lawyer, Vol. 40, No. 4, Fall 2005.

Coleman served as associate editor of the Arkansas Law Review from 1979-1980.

Community Involvement

Charlie is active in the community and has served on the boards of multiple charitable organizations in the Little Rock and greater Central Arkansas community.

Since 1986, Coleman has been a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club where he served as President from 2000 to 2001 and, since 2002, has been a board member of Kiwanis Activities, which is a non-profit organization that owns and operates a camp for at-risk youth. He attends Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church where he coaches three junior high church basketball teams.